The Celtics are now losers of four games in a row after falling to the Memphis Grizzlies, 110-106.
The loss didn’t come due to lack of effort from the second unit, as a lineup consisting of Terrence Williams, Jordan Crawford, Jeff Green, Shavlik Randolph, and D.J. White erased a 21-point deficit with 7:00 left and brought it to two points after a pair of Crawford free throw with 0:18 on the clock.
Crawford finished the game with 21 points on 5-13 shooting. Paul Pierce led the C’s with 26 points on 10-17 from the field and six rebounds. Kevin Garnett and Courtney Lee both missed the game with ankle injuries.
Jerryd Bayless led the way for Memphis with 30 points on 11-20 shooting from the field. Griz center Marc Gasol missed the game due to an abdominal tear.
The C’s jumped out to an early lead against the Griz, and actually led after the first quarter, but a big second quarter by Memphis gave them a healthy lead going into the half, and they kept a decent lead on Boston for the majority of the game.
Boston hopes to snap their four-game skid on Tuesday night against the Knicks.
What they’ll be saying: It was hard to envision the Celtics beating the Grizzlies on the second night of a back-to-back, especially without two of their starters in Garnett and Lee. On one hand, it’s nice that the bench made a comeback and gave the team a chance to win, on the other, it’s hard to envision some of those players with any minutes come postseason. Crawford should get some burn, but he remains one of the most up-and-down players on the C’s – in every sense. The C’s need to make sure Garnett is healthy once the postseason comes around, but if that means falling all the way back to the No. 8 seed (they’re just 1.5 games ahead of the Bucks) and playing the Heat in the first round, it will be an extremely tough task from the start.
